New Magic Mouse requires Mac OS X 10.6.2, release imminent (Updated)

Snow Leopard will be getting its second update within the next week, according …

Apple's new multitouch Magic Mouse brings multitouch gestures to desktop machines with its touch-sensitive surface. According to the device's manual, however, it requires lists Mac OS X 10.6.2 as one compatibility requirement, suggesting the update will be released any day now.

Mac OS X 10.6, Snow Leopard, was released August 28. The first update, 10.6.1, was released just 12 days later. It wasn't long after—about three weeks—that 10.6.2 betas were seeded to select developers for testing. Given that shipments of the new Magic Mouse from Apple's online store lists a lead time of 5-7 days, 10.6.2 should be available by the time Snow Leopard is just two months old.

According to AppleInsider, the build of 10.6.2 that was released to developers last week addresses a number of image-related issues, including one that affected playback of 1080p video in QuickTime X. It also includes a fix for the guest account bug that could result in wiping of a user's home folder. Previous builds included fixes for some five dozen issues in all.

Snow Leopard has already sold more than double the number of copies in its first five weeks than Leopard did, selling beyond Apple's ostensibly optimistic expectations. However, we've heard from a number of readers that they plan to wait until 10.6.2 before updating. It appears their wait will be over soon.

UPDATE: As pointed out in the comments, a more careful reading of the requirements says that Wireless Mouse Software Update 1.0 will enable the mouse to work on Leopard as well (Mac OS X 10.5.8 to 10.6.1). However, given that the manual references 10.6.2 as including the support built-in, it still suggests that Apple had intended to release 10.6.2 around the same time the Magic Mouse launched.